


All the Things I Want You to Know

by xenoglossia (oncharredwings)



Series: One Shots & Shorts [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Frat Parties, M/M, Nerd Shiro, Shy Shiro, gay disaster shiro, grey sweatpants shiro ;), punk/goth keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 19:11:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15126050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oncharredwings/pseuds/xenoglossia
Summary: In which Keith is a cool goth and Shiro is a nerd and a gay disaster.





	All the Things I Want You to Know

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tagteamme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tagteamme/gifts).



> This is for the lovely [Zan](http://phaltu.tumblr.com/) as yesterday was her birthday. Sorry I'm a day late.

Most people notice Takashi Shirogane’s physical features before they notice anything else about him but standing six foot three, two hundred and fifty pounds, and bearing a mishandled undercut were by far the most obvious and noticeable things about him. Especially when back in high school Shiro had stood roughly five foot five, one hundred and thirty pounds, and looked as if a blind nun cut his hair, he had most certainly filled out. The second thing people tended to notice about Takashi Shirogane were the silver braces flashing around on his teeth when he opened his mouth to speak, especially at presentations. The braces tended to match the image he presented with ugly argyle sweaters too tight around his chest and dockers. The last thing people usually noticed about Takashi Shirogane  – at least after spending more than five minutes with the man – was the penchant for Shiro to be an obvious and embarrassing nerd. 

The last part being Keith’s favorite. 

The lecture hall, filled with the soft commotion of rustling papers, snoring students, and one hum of a slide projector was usually the death to Keith’s afternoon energy. His mind usually traipsed away from class while flipping through a motorcycle magazine or doodling on a scrap piece of paper he managed to scrounge out of his usually empty backpack. However, Shiro stood in front of the class, using the slide projector instead of his laptop, to give a presentation on something-something to do with something from the Renaissance period.

Despite being an art major, Keith generally did not have fun during his art history lecture and even though he wasn’t completely following along with whatever Shiro was droning on about, Keith was definitely captivated by his fellow classmate’s voice and presence. Even if he’d been listening to Shiro talk for the past twenty minutes and had learned nothing at all. Suddenly, the room went quiet and Keith realized, from the way Shiro stood seemingly timid and unsure, the lecture was over and their professor was half asleep at his desk.

Someone cleared their throat and Shiro continued to stand as small as possible but being so big made shrinking an impossible feat. 

“Oh,” the professor grumbled. “Is it over?” 

Keith snorted but the amusement left him as Shiro shuffled back to his seat, looking downtrodden and defeated. Keith knew for a fact Shiro aspired to become a college professor after obtaining a masters degree in astrophysics – at least, he was pretty sure Shiro majored in astrophysics. Their professor called the next presenter up, as they had time for one more before class ended, but Keith’s eyes were glued to Shiro as he furiously took notes on a sheet of notebook paper.

Handwriting notes was a dying art amongst college students but Keith liked Shiro’s penchant for pen and paper as it reminded him of his own. A small smile, reserved only for adorable things he usually caught Shiro doing, softened Keith’s face as he placed his palm against his cheek. The next presentation went by faster and with more finesse but Keith didn’t even know the topic by the end of the class period. Once they were dismissed, Keith gathered up his sketchbook and minuscule notes and stuffed them into his leather backpack. 

Shiro was still gathering his notes, meticulously straightening his papers, and sliding them into the canvas bag he carried around across his chest. Keith was amazed he’d found a bag with a large enough strap to carry at all. The class quickly emptied, including their professor fleeing to his office to probably continue the nap from earlier, leaving only Keith and Shiro in the now quiet room. Shiro’s phone was attached to his hand and he was looking over something with an intensely furrowed brow. 

Keith took a deep breath and crossed the expanse between them, coming to stand directly in front of Shiro’s seat. Shiro did not look up at him, his attention fixated on his phone while he scrolled through whichever app currently held his attention. Keith cleared his throat. Still nothing. He cleared his throat again and finally, Shiro looked up and startled so badly he almost knocked himself out of his seat. 

“Sorry,” Keith said quickly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

“Keith,” Shiro said, his hand on his chest, probably attempting to will his heart to stop pounding through the acrylic of his sweater. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Keith said again. “I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”

“Of course.” Shiro pushed his black glasses back up his nose and Keith felt his soul drop out of the bottom of his stomach and hit the floor with a hard splat.

Shiro was just so endearingly beautiful.

“Are you going to the party tonight? At the Beta Lambda Delta house?” Keith asked slowly. He wasn’t one for frat parties but Lance was making him go and he wanted to attempt to make the event tolerable. 

“P-party?” Shiro stammered and had to shove his glasses once again back up his nose as they continuously seemed to want to slip off entirely. “I don’t think I was invited.” 

“Oh,” Keith said and shrugged his bag across his shoulders. “Well, I’m inviting you now. Do you want to come with me to the party tonight? I can pick you up at eight and we can go over together.”

Shiro’s mouth opened and closed several times as he attempted to process Keith’s question. “You… you want me to go to a party? With you?” 

“Yeah?” Keith asked. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes!” Shiro said quickly and then his face and cheeks turned as red as Keith’s t-shirt. “Um, I mean, sure… That would be satisfactory. I live in Altea Honors’ Hall.” 

Keith smiled a little and almost pointed out he knew where Shiro lived this year but he also didn’t want to admit to being kind of a stalker. “Sure,” he said. “What’s your room number?”

“Uh, 113,” Shiro said and finally finished gathering his books. “I have to get to my next class.” 

“I’ll see you at eight, Shiro.” Keith watched Shiro nod and struggle to free himself from his chair as he was so large and the desk was so small but eventually, Shiro managed to escape and rush out of the room, his face still red and flushed. 

An easy, happy smile slithered across Keith’s features and lightened his usually dark mood. He had a date with Takashi Shirogane and it had only taken him three years and two days to  _ finally _ ask him out. Lance would be proud.   
  
  


* * *

 

“Just breathe, just breathe, just b-breathe,” Shiro whispered the mantra while he paced his dorm room and debated on an outfit. Most of his wardrobe currently was lying in piles all over the thinly carpeted concrete floor while Shiro could only wring his hands and hope he didn’t need to find his inhaler. He hadn’t needed it in a long time but Keith Kogane asking him out was definitely doing the trick. 

“Shiro, if you don’t sit down I’m going to sit  _ on _ you,” Matt grumbled from his spot at his desk, his nose buried in a chemistry textbook. 

“He asked me out,” Shiro squeaked as he still paced back and forth. “Keith asked  _ me _ out.”

“Yeah, well, shocker,” Matt replied sarcastically. “He’s had a crush on you since freshman year, I don’t know why you’re so antsy about it.” 

“What?” Shiro asked, freezing in his spot next to the sink. “What do you mean?” 

Matt sighed heavily, the kind of sigh he reserved for idiots he occasionally schooled on campus. “Shiro… my friend… my pal…. I want you to know I say this out of great love for you.”

“What?”

“You’re an  _ idiot _ . Keith’s had a crush on you since freshman orientation. Remember when we were all paired up in a group and you forgot your water bottle so Keith literally ran across campus and ran back to us to bring you a fresh one?” 

“Yes,” Shiro said slowly as he recalled the memory.

“That’s love, baby,” Matt said with a shrug. 

“He doesn’t– Matt, stop exaggerating.” Shiro shook his head and resumed pacing the room. “I don’t know what to wear.” 

“Don’t wear a sweater vest and don’t wear argyle. Wear a t-shirt or something. Make him stare at your tits.” 

The vulgar language made Shiro’s ears turn red and picked at the sweater he currently still had on from earlier. “What’s wrong with my sweaters?”

“They’re not attractive,” Matt replied diplomatically. “To be honest, most of the time, you look like a blind nun dresses you.”

The words were a stinging blow to Shiro’s fragile self-confidence and he quickly ripped the sweater over his head and threw it back on the floor. “Have you always felt that way?” he asked shyly. Sometimes, he asked Matt for fashion advice and Matt had never told him to change or his sweaters were ugly. 

“Pretty much,” Matt admitted. “Look, Shiro, I hate making you sad because you get Bambi face– like right now. Bambi face.”

“I do not have  _ Bambi _ face,” Shiro snarled and attempted to wipe his face of all emotion. “I’m not cool enough for Keith and– and he’s going to realize that tonight. I don’t even know what he sees in me at all.” 

Matt paused and looked up at Shiro stressing over a pile of sweaters and ugly dress shirts. “C’mon, I’ll help you pick something out.” 

Shiro sighed and went back to his closet to look through his collection of nerdy t-shirts. Matt went through each shirt, shook his head, and moved onto the next one. He repeated the process a few times until finally plucking a white t-shirt from the middle of the grouping and handing it over. The front contained the NASA logo but the text read ASGARD. 

“There,” Matt said. “He’ll know you like space and I’m pretty sure I saw him wearing a Thor t-shirt once. You can have something to talk about.. Also that shirt is probably too small so it’ll make you stand out.” Matt clapped Shiro on the shoulder and patted his chest. “Never underestimate the power of the D cup, my friend.”

Shiro’s face turned bright red and he went into the bathroom to change from his current undershirt to the t-shirt Matt had picked out. The fabric stretched tightly across his chest and barely covered his midriff. In fact, Shiro noted if he shifted and walked, the t-shirt was definitely going to show off the skin between his waistband and the t-shirt hem. He slowly walked back out and looked in the full-length mirror behind his closet door. 

“I look ridiculous,” Shiro argued. 

Matt leaned over from his seat to check for himself. “Of course you do, you’re still in slacks for God’s sake. Put some jeans on. Wear that pair I got you for Christmas last year.” 

“Those have holes in them,” Shiro said slowly. 

“Kinda the point, my dude.” 

Shiro sighed but he grabbed the jeans from their hanger and once again went into the bathroom they shared to change. The jeans were also too tight in his butt but they weren’t uncomfortable. Once the outfit was complete, Shiro stepped out and let Matt inspect him like  _ he _ was the one going on the date and not Shiro. 

“Acceptable,” Matt said and reached up to ruffle Shiro’s hair until it stood out in different places. “There, now you have that ‘I don’t give a fuck’ edgy look that Keith’s apparently into. Put your leather jacket on and we have a winner, folks.”

Shiro walked over to grab the leather jacket he’d bought for the winter months and pulled it on. “You really think I look alright?” he asked slowly. 

“Shiro, you’re a certifiable  _ babe _ . Keith won’t be able to keep his eyes or hands off of you.” 

Shiro wasn’t sure about Keith putting his hands on him but he definitely didn’t mind Keith not being able to look away from him tonight. Especially since they were going to a frat party with a lot of gorgeous guys and Shiro knew Keith was also a gorgeous guy. He hated the idea of arriving at the party and Keith quickly realizing what a loser he truly was and ditching him for someone a lot more suave and cool. 

“What time is it?” Shiro asked even though he was holding his phone and could clearly see the time. 

“It’s crying time,” Matt teased but the clock read 7:59 and Matt had never been more right. 

He watched the hour change and not even a minute later, there was a knock on the door. The knock meant Keith was here, at eight, just like he promised, and Shiro wasn’t sure he remembered how to breathe. Matt stood up and loped over to the door to pull it open. 

“Hey Matt,” Shiro heard Keith say. “Is Shiro here?” 

“Yep,” Matt said. “C’mon on in.” 

Shiro gulped and shoved his phone into his back pocket and took one more glance in the mirror before turning around to face Keith as he walked in. Keith’s outfit immediately made Shiro’s jaw drop because he’d never seen him look so overly attractive. 

“Wow,” Keith said, drinking Shiro’s visage in. “You look  _ great _ .” 

“Yeah,” Shiro muttered. “You- You look- wow.” Shiro stammered, trailing his eyes from Keith’s red tank top to his black ripped jeans, to his black combat boots, back up to the red tank to and Keith’s lean tattooed biceps. A black, leather choker wrapped around Keith’s neck and a small little o-ring dangled from the front. Black, wild hair tied up in a ponytail, his bangs sweeping across his nebula colored eyes made Shiro weak at the knees. 

If anyone was a babe, it was Keith. 

“It’s pretty hot outside, you probably won’t need your jacket,” Keith said with a casual smile. “I figure we’d walk over to the frat house since it’s not that far.” 

“S-Sure,” Shiro said and slid out of the jacket without a second hesitation. 

“You ready to go?” Keith asked. 

“Yes. I’m ready.” He patted his pockets to make sure he had his phone and keys but once those were secured, Shiro waved to Matt and followed Keith back out of his room and down the hall toward the elevator. 

“You look great, Shiro,” Keith said again, his eyes roaming across his chest. “I love your shirt.” 

Shiro suddenly wished his face wasn’t so red but he supposed he could blame the heat. “Thank you,” he said and then quickly realized he hadn’t mentally prepared for this evening so he had absolutely zero topics prepared to whip out in case the conversation lagged. 

“I saw you at the Monsters and Mana competition last weekend,” Keith said as they climbed onto the elevator. “I’ve never played myself but my roommate and his friends like to play so I went with them to see what the hype was about.” 

_ Oh, my God, he knows what Monsters and Mana is _ , Shiro thought and tried not to squeal for joy. “Did– did you try to play?” 

“Yeah,” Keith admitted with a laugh. “I’m not sure I was any good but it was a lot of fun.” 

“What kind of character do you have?” 

“A half-elf ranger,” Keith said with a nod. “He was a lot of fun to play. What about you?” 

“I play a paladin,” Shiro said. “I love… paladins.” 

He loved being  _ good _ and he loved helping others. Matt told him that was why Shiro wanted to be a professor – to help others.

“That’s cool,” Keith said when they reached the lobby and headed out into the hot night. 

The air was stifling and Shiro was glad Keith had told him to take his jacket off. He was also suddenly appreciative for jeans with holes in them for fashion’s sake. The walk was mostly quiet between them and Shiro mentally wrestled with himself to find something interesting to talk about but Keith didn’t look uncomfortable. The only uncomfortable person in the vicinity seemed like himself and Keith didn’t seem nonplussed by the silence at all. 

The frat house quickly came into their sights, loud and full of people, music, and debauchery. Keith walked up to the door with such a casual confidence, Shiro wished he could bottle it up and take a shot. The door stood open and Shiro followed Keith inside, where the room was packed full of grinding and bumping bodies, and the smell of sweat and booze filled Shiro’s nose to a nauseating level. 

“Do you want a drink?” Keith asked Shiro, yelling over the loud music. 

Shiro nodded and watched Keith disappear into the crowd. Several people bumped into him and Shiro muttered apologies despite only standing in the entryway and not actually doing anything to anyone. He eventually pressed himself to hug a wall and wait for Keith to come back, glad he was tall enough to see mostly over everyone in the room. The seconds ticked by and Shiro was almost ready to pull out his phone to pretend to be texting when he finally caught sight of Keith, holding two red solo cups in hand. 

“Here,” Keith said, passing the drink over so Shiro could take it. “Not sure what’s in it but that’s usually half the fun.” 

The music died down for a moment and Shiro was glad he could hear himself think. His eyes roamed over Keith’s outfit again, settling on Keith’s Adam's apple as it bobbed when Keith took long pulls on his cup. The sight made Shiro’s mouth water and he quickly took a swallow of his own. The alcohol burned on the way down and tasted like garbage but Shiro hoped it would loosen him up enough to be cool and not a total loser. 

“So, I didn’t think you were the frat party type,” Shiro said slowly, now that the music had been turned down and he could talk at a slightly normal register, even if they were standing close so they could talk and hear one another. 

“I’m not,” Keith replied and took another swig of his drink. “My roommate made me come here. I didn’t want to be bored, so I asked you to come, too.” 

“Oh,” Shiro said and looked into his cup. The liquid’s color made him want to vomit already. “Why me? I’m not exactly the most fun guy in the room.” 

“Because I like you,” Keith replied with a casual shrug. The words were so finite and firm, Shiro wondered if Matt had been right all along. “I’ve wanted to ask you out for a really long time but I always chicken out.” 

“W-Why? You’re so…  _ cool  _ and I’m…” 

“A nerd?” Keith asked with a smirk. “I like that about you.” 

Well, Shiro found that hard to believe. Keith was definitely the coolest guy Shiro had ever met and even though he’d casually played Monsters and Mana  _ once _ , Shiro was positive Keith did not fill his days with data collection, tabletop games, and comic books. Keith drove a motorcycle and wore a  _ real _ leather jacket and always looked as if he could hex someone for fun. 

Keith was the kind of guy Shiro longed to date but knew he would never be able to have. Nerds and cool, witchy guys like Keith just didn’t match up. 

“What?” Keith asked and Shiro realized too late he’d been staring at Keith in disbelief. 

“You  _ like _ that I’m… a nerd?” he asked slowly. “Why?” 

“Because it’s hot?” Keith asked as if that was the most logical conclusion. “I mean, here you are an absolute stunning  _ beast _ , could probably snap me in half, and yet you’re also this guy who volunteers his time at the animal shelter and you believe in women’s rights and you’re the smartest guy in the room pretty much at all times. You never let your good looks or brains get to your head and I like that about you, Shiro.” 

The compliments rolling off of Keith’s tongue made a permanent heat rise up beneath Shiro’s cheeks and he was certainly glad the room was hot because he could definitely blame the party’s atmosphere and not Keith being so nice to him. “Well,” he said, swirling the liquid in his cup. “You’re the first to ever tell me that to my face.” 

“Because people are close-minded morons,” Keith replied with a snort. “I’m really glad you came out with me tonight. Making this  _ way _ more tolerable.”

“Yeah,” Shiro agreed softly. “Me, too.”

Keith went to say something else but the crowd suddenly surged and several guys suddenly rushed by, one of them knocking into Shiro hard enough to send him back a step and then cold liquid spilled all the way down Shiro’s front. 

“Hey!” Keith snarled and grabbed the offender by the collar to shove him back with ease. “Watch where you’re fucking  _ walking _ , asshole.” 

The guy mumbled an apology and Shiro did his best impression of a gasping fish. Keith was  _ strong _ . 

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, looking at Shiro’s soaked and ruined shirt. “C’mon, let’s go, I'm so fucking over this party.” 

“S-sure,” Shiro managed to choke out as he followed Keith back out into the night. They walked away from the frat house until they were closer to the campus center and Keith took Shiro into the men’s room to try to clean his shirt. 

“Here, strip,” Keith said which made Shiro’s face turn bright red. “C’mon, I’m a guy and we had a gym class together. I’ve seen you without a shirt on before.”

Yes, Shiro wanted to agree, but this was by far more intimate. He took the shirt off regardless, his nose wrinkling at the ungodly scent of alcohol but he supposed it was better than someone vomiting on him. The bathroom was cold and Shiro subconsciously wrapped his arms around his chest to cover his body up as much as possible. Matt always teased him and said he had cute titties but even if he did, he didn’t want Keith to see how hard his nipples were currently standing up. 

Keith paid him no mind, running the shirt under the cold water tap to work the stain out but even Shiro could see it was probably a lost cause. Not that it mattered, the shirt was too small anyway and he could always order a proper fitting one. 

“I think it’s a goner,” Keith said as he wrang the excess liquid from the fabric and then turned the hand dryer on to hold the shirt beneath. 

“It’s okay,” Shiro said, still hiding his chest as much as possible. 

Keith smirked a little. “Shy?” 

“What?”

“You're covering up like I’m seeing you naked.”

“Oh–. I’m fine- It’s just cold,” Shiro said which wasn’t a complete lie. How they kept the bathroom this cold when the night air felt like stepping into a sauna, Shiro had no idea but it was extremely inconvenient.

“Yeah, it is cold in here,” Keith agreed and continued to dry Shiro’s shirt out a bit. Clearly, the hand dryer was not going to do a very thorough job but when Keith passed Shiro’s shirt back it at least was no longer sopping wet and didn’t smell so bad anymore. 

“Thank you,” he said, pulling it on. The wet fabric found every inch of skin to cling to and when Shiro saw himself in the mirror he realized he may as well have not been wearing a shirt at all. The white fabric was horribly transparent now and his nipples were clearly standing out like laser pointers to his chest. 

Keith, to his credit, kept his gaze on Shiro’s and a soft, pleasant smile filled his face in a way he’d never seen Keith look before.

“What?” Shiro asked, wondering if he had something on his face but the mirror said he looked fine. 

“You’re just really gorgeous,” Keith replied softly. “Inside and out.” 

Once again, Keith managed to make him blush and he continued his streak of not being able to actually form a proper sentence without stammering and tripping over the words lodging in his throat. This time, nothing came out and he just stammered helplessly. Matt always called him a gay disaster and Shiro had to agree this one time. 

“Do you want to come back to my place?” Keith asked. “I share a house with some people just down the street.” 

Shiro could only nod because words continued to fail him. He was being invited to a guy’s place and  _ not _ because they were studying. “Sure,” he finally managed to gasp.

“Great,” Keith said and offered his hand. His  _ hand _ .

Wiping his palm along his thigh, Shiro took Keith’s hand and followed him out of the campus center. His brain rushed at a million miles an hour and filled with images of condoms and bananas and trying to remember if he even  _ had _ condoms in his wallet and if he did how old they were. Probably from high school. He’d never had the need for one before now. He pushed the thoughts aside because Keith was a guy and probably had condoms and Shiro wasn’t even sure if that was Keith’s intent anyway. 

_ Don’t jump the gun and be gross _ , Shiro chastised while they walked hand in hand to a two-story, brick house just right off of campus. 

The front porch was littered with leaves and some dust and dirt but there was a cushioned swing in front of a large window which looked comfortable. Keith opened the door, which was apparently unlocked, and Shiro followed him inside. The house smelled immediately of vanilla which was soothing and pleasant to walk into.

Keith didn’t pause and Shiro had to hurry and catch up to follow him up the stairs to a hallway and down to his bedroom which was at the end on the left. The room was surprisingly large, larger than Shiro’s dorm room, but it was also fairly empty. A bed stood in the corner by the window, a desk opposite the bed, and a dresser across from the window housed a television and a PlayStation. The rest of the room was mostly empty save for a few bookshelves filled with comics and manga? Shiro went to investigate and realized Keith was a  _ weeb _ .

Maybe Keith wasn’t as cool as he presented outwardly. 

“You like anime?” Shiro asked. 

“Hm? Yeah,” Keith replied with a shrug as he sat down on his bed to take his boots off. “Do you?” 

He wanted to snort and gesture at himself but he just nodded instead. At least, Keith didn’t presume he liked anime because he was Japanese. “I do,” he agreed. “But I like most… nerdy stuff, I guess. Comics, anime, cartoons, Marvel movies, the History channel.” 

Keith laughed and when Shiro turned to face him he saw Keith was no longer wearing his shirt and was sitting completely shirtless on his bed. 

_ Oh God _ , Shiro thought. Maybe they really were about to have sex. 

“Keith,” he squeaked nervously.

“Huh?” 

How did he tell Keith he was a virgin and was not ready to just casually jump into bed with someone, not even for Keith.

“I’m a virgin,” he spat out quickly as his face heated up to match the shame he felt inside. 

Keith stared at him for a moment. “Okay?” he asked. “That’s… good? I guess? Why is that pertinent information?” 

“Well, I figure– you invited me… here… to you know…” 

“To have sex?” Keith asked in disbelief. “You think I invited you here to have sex?” 

“Well…” Shiro trailed off because maybe he’d made a mistake. Normally, Shiro didn’t listen to rumors about someone because they were usually wrong but he’d heard from  _ quite  _ a few people, all guys, that Keith was most definitely an easy guy to crawl into bed with. 

“Well, what? What exactly did I do to make you think I invited you back here for sex?” Keith asked, his voice coated with anger. 

Shiro flinched and held up his hands to ward off a fight. “I’m sorry. I just– I’ve heard you’re…” 

“I’m  _ what _ ?” 

“You know…” 

“Easy?” Keith snapped, his good mood dissipating rapidly. 

“Well, yes,” Shiro admitted with a nervous glance down at his shoes. “I’m sorry. I just thought when you asked me back here–”

“I asked you back here to hang out, not to have sex,” Keith snapped. “I don’t even know you, Shiro. I’m not about to crawl into bed with you. You can’t fucking believe everything you hear.” 

“Keith, I’m sorry,” Shiro said quickly, realizing he’d stepped into something rude and presumptuous. 

The atmosphere was no longer casual and fun between them. Now the air was thick with tension and rage. Keith’s eyes had gone from sparkling like the galaxies above to a dark and malevolent storm. The anger was palpable and Shiro wondered if he should simply excuse himself for the evening and go sit at the bottom of his shower feeling absolutely moronic. 

“You should go,” Keith seemed to answer for him. 

Shiro swallowed another lump forming in his throat, muttered one more apology, and quickly walked back downstairs to leave Keith’s house. The date crashed around him in shambles and by the time Shiro made his way into his dorm room, he had no energy to explain to Matt what had happened. He could only grab his pajamas and walk into their bathroom to lock the door and hide in the shower for the rest of the night.

He turned the shower on and debated on sending Keith an apology text since he still had Keith’s number stored from a time they’d worked on a project together.

In the end, he decided against it just in case Keith didn’t want to hear from him again and stripped to sit under the hot water and debate on transferring. 

Tears choked Shiro and blurred his vision as he wrapped his arms around his legs to pull to his chest. Keith had been perfect and he was never going to be able to undo his own shitty behavior. The chance with Keith had been fleeting and a dream come true but Shiro should have known better. 

His dreams always stayed dreams.   
  


* * *

 

 

Rain pattering down on the roof and window pane drew Keith’s eyes open and the pounding headache followed a roll of thunder overhead. A small groan escaped Keith’s throat as he sat up to grab his water bottle to take a swig. The water was old and made him shudder but his mouth was no longer dry like cotton. He didn’t drink anymore and whatever had been in that cup last night was brutal. Not to mention the alcohol he’d consumed after Shiro had left. 

After he’d told Shiro to leave, Keith had gone downstairs and helped himself to Lance’s vodka and drank over half the bottle before passing out on his bed. His reputation proceeds him and whether he wanted to admit it or not, Shiro was partially right. He was easy – at least, he’d used to be easy. Going to bed with people had always been something Keith did, whether it was to gain an upper hand or simply because he just wanted to be laid. 

The embarrassing part came with the fact that even Shiro realized he was a total disaster. 

Kicking Shiro out last night had been rash, Keith realized now as the morning storm woke him from a deep, hangover sleep. He reached to check his phone but the only text he had was from Lance wondering where his vodka went. Keith rolled his eyes and saw the time was too early to be awake but his body was awake and telling him to get the fuck up, take a shower, and hit the gym to work off this hangover. 

Keith eased his body upright and staggered to the bathroom to vomit, piss, shower, and brush his teeth. The thought of food made his stomach recoil but he grabbed a protein bar to force feed himself on the way to the campus gym. Keith walked in the rain, uncaring, letting the cold water wash away his guilt and exhaustion. By the time he reached the gym, he was soaked through but Keith ignored that fact in favor of going to run on the treadmill to warm up. 

The gym was empty, at least from what Keith could see, and he ran for thirty minutes to wake up and warm up for weights. Thirty minutes passed and Keith didn’t once think of Shiro or how he’d probably screwed up by telling him to leave last night.

Shiro wasn’t like other people.

He wasn’t an asshole and he wasn’t using Keith to have a good time. Shiro was a diamond in a pile of rocks, shining and beautiful, and Keith had ruined his chances. The thought of never being able to see Shiro again made a dark cloud form over his head but Keith shoved the pain aside to walk to the back of the gym and round the corner to start with some dumbells and work on squats. He had to work to have an ass this good and squats would keep his mind occupied from

“Shiro,” he gasped when he realized Shiro was lifting with Matt standing as his spotter, even though Keith wasn’t all that sure Matt would be able to lift the three hundred pounds Shiro was currently benching. 

Matt looked up from watching Shiro and stammered, trying to gain Shiro’s attention. Keith stood, unable to move until Shiro finally put the barbell back with Matt’s help and slowly sat up, grabbing a towel to wipe his face. Keith noted he wasn’t wearing his glasses and his grey sweatpants left Keith aching to take them off. 

“Keith,” Shiro said, just as dumbfounded. 

“I’ll… leave you two alone,” Matt said and quickly dashed back toward the lockers and bathroom. 

Shiro stammered but didn’t stop Matt from leaving either. “Sorry,” he said again. 

Keith finally snapped out of his reverie and slowly walked up to Shiro where he straddled the bench and he copied Shiro, straddling the bench as well to face him on even ground. “No,” Keith said firmly. “I’m sorry. I completely overreacted last night… I just… I panicked, thinking you saw me just like everyone else. A whore.” 

“ _ No _ ,” Shiro gasped. “God, no, I’m so sorry. I just thought when you invited me back that was your thought process and I was trying to say I wasn’t…  _ ready _ for that.”

Keith took a deep breath to settle his thirst levels. Shiro looked unbelievably good in those grey sweatpants. “I respect that,” he said evenly. “Do you forgive me for being a dick?” 

“Only if you forgive me for assuming that was what you wanted to do in the first place.” 

Keith nodded. “Deal.” 

A relieved smile filled Shiro’s face. “Good. So… Do you still want to go out with me? I mean– Fuck. I don’t even know if you that’s what you want and I’m just fucking assuming again.  _ Stupid _ –.” 

Keith cut Shiro off by leaning forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. The kiss was extremely brief but when Keith pulled back Shiro was staring with wide eyes and red cheeks as if the kiss had been longer and deeper. He smiled shyly in returned and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I really want to be your boyfriend,” Keith admitted as casually as he could manage. “If you’re into that idea and stuff. I mean, we can definitely go on a few dates to figure out if that’s what you want–.” 

“Yes,” Shiro answered quickly. 

“Are you sure– you can take a second to think about…” 

“Yes. I want to be your boyfriend,” Shiro said again, just as quickly. 

A warm smile filled Keith’s face and happiness settled across his body in a blanket of what Lance called warm fuzzies. Butterflies gathered in a swarm in his stomach but Keith was too high on happiness to care about the nerves. 

“Great,” he said. “So, maybe we could have a redo date tonight? We can go somewhere we both like. Maybe the arcade? Dinner first and then the arcade?” 

Shiro’s eyes lit up. “That’d be great. Pick me up at six?” 

“Sure.” Keith leaned forward and pressed one more kiss to Shiro’s cheek before easing himself off of the bench to walk back toward the gym’s entrance, no longer needing to work out. 

Happiness guided Keith’s steps across campus and he suddenly knew what walking on air felt like. The smile didn’t die from his face the entire walk back to his house and not even the rain could chase away his good mood. 

He had a boyfriend. 

Takashi Shirogane was his boyfriend and Keith couldn’t think of a better way to start the day. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Zan! Hope you don't mind me exploiting your love of Shiro in grey sweatpants (tbf I have the same love)


End file.
